New director found in center’s backyard

Nick Langley chats with Farrell Ford. Langley, an Arkadelphia resident and graduate of Henderson State University, has replaced Ford as executive director of the Clark County Arts and Humanities Council.

ARKADELPHIA  The Clark County Arts and Humanities Council has a new executive director. Nick Langley, an Arkadelphia resident and a graduate of Henderson State University, has replaced Farrell Ford, who assumed the role of president of the council following the recent resignation of Scott Holsclaw.

“We were looking for someone from this community and someone who is passionate about the arts,” Ford said of Langley’s selection.

Langley graduated from Arkadelphia High School and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in graphic design from Henderson. He is pursuing a master’s degree in art history, also at Henderson, where he is a graduate assistant. He has presented his research at conferences in New York, San Diego and San Francisco and is the illustrator of The Geek Handbook, published by Krause Publications in 2012. The book has sold more than 10,000 copies.

Langley said Arkadelphia is rich in artistic talent, and his job will be to cultivate that talent and showcase it via the council.

“Part of this [job] is grant writing to help keep us open,” Langley said. “I have a lot of grant-writing experience. I’m also a people person, so I’ll be speaking to a lot of groups in town. We have nine arts organizations that we serve as an umbrella. Each does its own thing, but each time we collaborate, we learn from each other’s experiences and skills. We’re trying to facilitate relations of the arts and the community.”

“We were granted the money to pay for a part-time [director’s] salary,” Ford said. “That grant will play out one of these days, so we are in the process of finding funds to hire someone on a full-time basis. We think we have found the person who has the knowledge and skills.”

She said Langley will develop the council’s social-media presence.

“I’m going to take this into cyberspace, the online community,” Langley said. “We can get a lot more students involved. Going online is a good way to get their attention and to get content for our gallery.”

He said he found out about the job opening by accident.

“I brought some exhibits to the [Arkadelphia Arts Center] for Art on Main and asked about an internship. Farrell said they had a position open. I applied for it, and I think it worked out pretty well.”

Ford said she is glad to have hired someone who is from Arkadelphia and has close ties to the community. Langley’s parents, Travis and Rebecca, teach at Henderson State University.

The Clark County Arts and Humanities Council is partnered with the Caddo River Art Guild, the Arkadelphia Little Theatre, the Arkadelphia Poets and Writers Guild, the Clark County Historical Association, the Arkadelphia Philharmonic Club, Clark County Public School Arts, Henderson State University Arts and Ouachita Baptist University Arts. For more information, call (870) 210-5235 or email director@ccahc.org.